Borscht Belt

Borscht Belt (German: Borschtsch Belt ) is a colloquial term for the mostly disbanded holiday settlements of New York Jews (with roots from the Russian Empire ) in the Catskill Mountains ( Upstate New York ) during the 1960s .

history

The Borscht Belt Hotels, Bungalow Settlements, Holiday Camps and Kuchaleyns (Yiddish, self-catering rental bungalows) were used by Jewish emigrants from Eastern Europe and their children and grandchildren who came to New York in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Other nicknames for the areas frequented by this population were the "Jewish Alps" and Solomon County as a corruption of Sullivan County . Well-known resorts were Brickman’s , Brown’s , Concord Resort Hotel , Grossinger’s , Granit , Kutsher’s Hotel and Country Club , Nevele Grand Hotel , Friar Tuck Inn , The Pines Resort , Raleigh Hotel and Windsor . Two larger hotels were Shawanga Lodge and Overlook near Bloomingburg .

Typical was the Overlook , which was operated by the Schrier family until the 1960s and offered entertainment and accommodation in 50 bungalows, a main building and five country houses during the summer months. Some of the hotels were originally farms by immigrant Jews from the early 20th century.

Despite the expansion of the New York State Route 17 to the Interstate Highway , the area lost its importance as a travel destination due to increasing air traffic. Today a stay in the Catskills is just as expensive for New Yorkers as a (more attractive) trip to Hawaii or the Caribbean. What remained were abandoned or crumbling tourist destinations from the boom in the Borscht Belt.

A film by Peter Davis was released in 1986 under the title Rise and Fall of the Borscht Belt .

Trivia

The Borscht Belt became known in Germany through the dance film Dirty Dancing . The real tradition of Borscht Belt entertainment began in the early 1920s with a Jewish theater that Boris Thomaschewsky built in Hunter .

Over time, many comedians and actors first became known here, so

• Joey Adams
• Woody Allen
• Milton Berle
• Mel Brooks
• George Burns
• Lenny Bruce
• Red buttons
• Rodney Dangerfield
• Danny Kaye
• Alan King
• Robert Klein
• Don Rickles
• Allan Sherman
• Henny Youngman et al. a.

The most famous cultural event in the area, albeit unrelated to the Borscht Belt, was the Woodstock Festival in 1969 on the grounds of the Jewish farmer Max Yasgur in Bethel .

today

The region is now the residence of many Orthodox New York City Jews in their holiday homes and bungalow settlements (including many historic ones) during the summer and also as permanent campers . Because of its age, there is even a year-round branch of the Jewish Orthodox Medical Emergency Service Hatzolah .

See also

• Belt regions

literature

• Marisa Scheinfeld, Stefan Kanfer, Jenna Weissman Joselit: The Borscht Belt: Revisiting the Remains of America's Jewish Vacationland. Cornell University Press, Ithaca 2016, ISBN 978-1-5017-0059-0 .
• Stephen J. Whitfield: Borscht Belt. In: Dan Diner (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Jewish History and Culture (EJGK). Volume 1: A-Cl. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2011, ISBN 978-3-476-02501-2 , pp. 390-392.
• Susanne Kippenberger : It's all bingo! Millions of Jewish New Yorkers vacationed in the Catskill Mountains. In: Der Tagesspiegel , August 19, 2007, p. S7
• Schlock and miracles in the Borscht Belt. In: Structure . The Jewish Monthly Magazine, Volume 7, No. 7 from July 1, 2007
• Irwin Richman: Borscht Belt Bungalows: Memoirs Of Catskill Summers. Temple University Press, Philadelphia 1998, ISBN 1-56639-585-2 .
• Tova gd Sabin: Borscht Belt. In: St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture online

Individual evidence

1. ^ Rise and Fall of the Borscht Belt - Documentation about the Borscht Belt ; Directed and produced by Peter Davis